Votes are being counted for 280 seats and the process may take longer than usual.
Srinagar:
The Popular Alliance led by Farooq Abdullah for the Gupkar Declaration has a small advantage over the BJP in the first District Development Council (DDC) election in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first election in Jammu and Kashmir since its special status was removed and it was demoted to Union Territory.
On the last tracks, the Gupkar alliance, a group of regional parties that includes the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), is ahead by 11 seats and the BJP by eight.
Congress is leading in two.
Votes are being counted for 280 seats, 14 in each of the 20 districts of the union territory, and the process may take longer than usual because the state electoral commission has opted for the paper ballot instead of the voting machines. electronic voting or EVM. The voting took place in eight phases over a 25-day period.
The Gupkar Alliance, which was formed in protest against the massive constitutional changes in which Article 370 was repealed, was largely absent during the campaign. Many of its leaders, such as former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and others, were detained in August last year, shortly after the removal of the special status, as the center imposed security restrictions to prevent protests.
The election results can be used as a kind of referendum by both political ideologies, for and against the major constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir.
The announcement of the DDC ballot box was so sudden that it took political parties by surprise. Regional leaders emerging from lengthy detentions and restrictions found themselves caught in a Catch-22 situation. The decision to fight in the elections was not easy for the new political amalgam, called the Popular Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration or PAGD. The BJP calls them the “Gupkar gang”.
The alliance of archrivals, the National Conference, the PPD, the People’s Conference and other groups came together to fight for the restoration of Article 370 and statehood in Jammu and Kashmir. But that premise may have taken a back seat.
The Gupkar alliance announced that it will present joint candidates and even published a list of its “unanimous” candidates for the first five phases. The bonhomie, however, was short-lived, as the fight to share seats forced them not to publish the subsequent list for the last three phases.
Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti did not campaign once for their candidates. No one knows the exact reason why they completely abandoned the fight.
Farooq Abdullah is fighting a money laundering case at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. The agency recently attached its properties, including two houses in the Srinagar and Jammu region.
The alliance leaders also alleged that their candidates have been kept in security precincts and were not allowed to campaign under the pretext of security concerns.
The BJP, on the other hand, recruited central leaders, including union ministers, to campaign in the Jammu and Kashmir regions.
With temperatures around minus 6 degrees Celsius, people went out to vote in large numbers.
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